How Switzerland Transformed Itself Into A Deep Tech Global Leader

Forbes

4 days ago

ETH Zurich has become a world leader for spin-out tech firms
Most people asked to name the world's leading locations for technology innovation would probably point to Silicon Valley or, on the other side of the Atlantic, Cambridge and Oxford in the UK, or even Israel. However, new data charts the quiet rise of another global leader: Switzerland has developed into one of the world's most exciting deep tech ecosystems, the report claims.
The Swiss Deep Tech Report 2025, published by Dealroom.co, Startupticker and the venture capital investment firms Founderful and Kickfund, reveals that Swiss deep tech companies have now collectively created more than $100 billion worth of enterprise value. Switzerland now ranks first in Europe and third worldwide in terms of venture capital funding per capita, the report points out.
There is more to come, argues Alex Stöckl, the founding partner of Founderful. 'The trajectory of the past five years suggests we're going to see even more growth over the next five years,' Stöckl says. 'What is to come is crazy: we're now tracking 200 super-early deep tech companies in an ecosystem that is set to grow exponentially.'
By 'deep tech', the report founders mean technology developed out of academic or scientific research and development – as opposed to innovation from an entrepreneur. Switzerland's advantage in this regard is that it is home to two of the world's leading scientific universities; ETH Zurich and EPFL, based in Lausanne, have seen more spin-out businesses than any university in Europe other than Oxford and Cambridge.
The fact these institutions do not charge tuition fees – and levy only modest administration charges for foreign students – has attracted applications from students worldwide. And this influx of talent has also seen some of the world's biggest technology companies set up bases in Switzerland – Google, Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia all have significant operations in the country; they have recently been joined by artificial intelligence leaders including OpenAI and Anthropic.
Certainly, AI is part of the Swiss story, with notable startups such as Neural Concept and Ethon.ai raising $27.0 million and $16.6 million respectively over the past year. 'Zurich has quietly become an AI powerhouse,' says Nathan Benaich, the founding partner of Air Street Capital. 'With a deep pool of world-class engineers and researchers, anchored by the likes of Google, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft, and increasingly ambitious academic communities driven by ETHZ, the city is a prime ecosystem for creating AI-first companies.'
However, other sectors also boast multiple success stories. In robotics, for example, Anybotics raised $60.0 million at the end of 2024 while RIVR picked up $22.0m last summer. Climate tech, medtech and biotech are all significant sub-sectors of the Swiss deep tech industry. Semiconductors and quantum computing are also important areas of focus.
Investors also point to the growing co-operation between start-ups and established companies in Switzerland.
'Whatʼs especially compelling is how tech-forward Swiss corporates are stepping up and actively collaborating with spin-offs from world class institutions such as ETH and EPFL, serving as design partners and helping bring cutting-edge technologies to market,' says Andrei Brasoveanu, a partner at Accel.
As a result, investment in Swiss deep tech businesses continues to grow. The report suggests they raised $1.9 billion last year, up from $1.4 billion in 2023 – and that the sector is on course to raise a further $2.3 billion in 2025. 'I see Switzerland as the Israel of Europe,' adds Stöckl.
'Switzerland has become a deep tech powerhouse on the global stage,' argues Nicolas Autret, a partner at Walden Catalyst Ventures. 'Swiss success stories like ANYbotics, Scandit, and Climeworks are due to the convergence of several factors ranging from Swiss academic excellence, a strong IP culture, and close collaboration with Swiss industrial leaders.'
Established unicorn businesses in Switzerland with $1 billion-plus valuations include the latter two firms referenced by Autret, as well companies including Crispr Therapeutics, Proton and Sonar. But the report's authors are equally excited by emerging companies just beginning to take off. They cite examples including DePoly in the climatetech subsector, AI specialist Lakera, LimmaTech in biotechnology and Voliro in the spacetech arena.
'Switzerland's top-ranked innovation clusters in Zürich, Basel and the greater Lausanne/Geneva area have been using their existing strengths and unparalleled skills base to reposition and fortify in fields such as medical technology, biotech, robotics and AI applications,' says Sacha Wunsch-Vincent co-editor of the Global Innovation Index at the World Intellectual Property Organization. 'This puts Switzerland at the forefront of the next wave of global innovation.'